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Dash invites researchers to hack their blockchain

Thousands of security researchers will be incentivized to identify critical software vulnerabilities within Dash’s code and present them to the Dash Core Team for remediation. Commencing in August, Dash will employ a private bug bounty program through Bugcrowd, tapping into a curated, invite-only crowd to find Dash vulnerabilities, and then, in line with the rollout of Evolution, expand to a public program with over 60,000 registered security experts.

The Dash bug bounty

Jim Bursch, director of Dash Incubator and Bugcrowd’s proposal creator said, “Our goal is a safer, stronger network. We are talking about money – the digital equivalent of cold, hard cash. Meaningful amounts of cash attract a powerful incentive for thieves on a global scale. The Dash project is like building a bank vault, and inviting elite bank robbers to participate in its design, so it can’t be robbed by other criminals.”

In the short history of cryptocurrencies, hacks have already marred the industry, and enterprise have felt the pain for well over a decade. Just last month, a hacker walked away with $7 million USD from investors participating in CoinDash’s ICO, in June last year over $50 million USD was stolen in The DAO (Ethereum) hack, and large companies like Bell Canada and Tesco Bank have recently been victims of information breaches and lost customer funds.

How Bugcrowd works

Bugcrowd enlists over 60,000 security researchers to surface critical software vulnerabilities. In any given fortnight, Bugcrowd researchers typically find about five critical vulnerabilities, 70 unique vulnerabilities and 200 total vulnerabilities.

Bugcrowd CEO Casey Ellis said, “Currently, there is a massive shortage in cybersecurity professionals – pair this with an expanding attack surface and companies are at a major security disadvantage. We have amassed a solid resource of professional security researchers and years of experience managing highly complex programs. We are living in the era of digital transformation – cryptocurrency is the next stage in this evolution. Given the globalization of the workforce, it stands to reason that the demand for cryptocurrency will grow.

When a security researcher finds a bug in Dash’s code, the Bugcrowd Technical Operations team will handle bug triage and validation. Bugs are assigned a ‘severity’ rating and remediation advice is provided to the Dash Core Team.

Evolution

“Our landmark release, Evolution, aims to completely redefine how a digital currency functions and will be available for Alpha testing in December. Providing that optimal user experience requires a massive change to the underlying technology. The more improvements Dash adds to the original Bitcoin code, which Dash is based on, means we will continue to invest heavily in ensuring our product meets the highest standard possible. Because digital currencies store wealth and facilitate transfer of payments, it is critical that we take all measures possible to make absolutely sure that even minor software bugs are addressed,” Taylor said.

Ellis concluded, “Regardless of size, organizations that attempt a self-managed program quickly find the process overwhelming. Defining scope, identifying program security owners, establishing a vulnerability management program, and even determining time-to-fix agreements within that program – all of these require time and resources both in the setup, and on an ongoing basis as the program evolves.”